Fang Finds Family
by footballprincess
Summary: Landing in Seaford proves to be more than just a quick rest when Max discovers a packet containing info about the flock. If the flock and the kickin' it gang can crack the code and get to the bottom of the mystery, two young men might discover they have more in common than amazing hair.
1. Go With Your Gut

**A/N: First attempt at writing a crossover, because my sister wouldn't leave me alone, so here goes. There is some instances of people being out of character, so sorry about that.**

**Updates will be fairly fast, so keep checking back.**

**That being said, read and review!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned both Maximum ride AND Kickin' It, I would be jumping for joy 24/7. Sadly, that is so not the case.**

Fang's P.O.V

I squint at the ground in the falling darkness. Even from about 500 feet in the air, I can see many details. Why, you ask? Because I am an avian-American flying above a small town in California, and my raptor vision means I don't miss anything. Ever.

I focus on the one thing that seems out of place. A tall boy with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie. He has a duffel bag, and he's walking fast. Extremely fast. Too fast. No one else on that street is in that big of a rush, which begs the question, why is he?

I swoop down to see what he's doing. In a heartbeat, Max is next to me. "What's going on?" she asks, and I can feel her muscles tense in anticipation for a fight.

"Just need to check something out." I say.

"Is it suspicious?" she asks, raising one eyebrow. "Should I tell the kids to go hide?"

"Yes. No." I say.

"We're going to wait for you in that mall we saw a few minutes ago, it'll be easy to blend in there." She tells me and flies back to the rest of the flock. I can hear Nudge's piercing squeal. Excited about going to the mall, no doubt.

I land quietly, make sure my wings are hidden, and follow the fast-walker I had spotted earlier. He's dressed in a gray hoodie and blue jeans, and big clunky vans. He's carrying a duffel bag, which for all I know could have a bomb in it.

"Hey," I bark. Then I smack myself in the head. There went any hope of subtlety. Terrific. Now I have to, you know, converse with a normal person my age. Not one of my best skills. It starts sinking in how very little I thought this through. Max is the thinker, she makes the plans. I go with my gut and roll with the punches.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the boy asks. His words are tough, but his slumped posture and red, puffy eyes give away his fatigue.

"What happened to you?" I ask. Not that I witness a whole lot of crying in my daily life as a mutant on the run, but it's obvious that's exactly what this guy is doing. "Where are you going?"

"Away," he says. "I am running away," he sounds like he's trying to convince himself.

"Why?" This kid looks like he can fight, but that doesn't mean he can make it on the streets.

"Long story," he sighs heavily, and shakes his head. I notice his hair, which is almost as awesome as mine.

"I got time," I say calmly. I actually don't, because of the whole Max-and-the-flock-waiting-in-the-mall thing, but I can't let this kid hit the streets for no reason. He wouldn't last.

"I'm adopted," he says, sounding relieved to get that off his chest. "My parents told me today. I guess I'm annoyed that they had fifteen years to tell me, but didn't. I can't believe they kept that from me! How am I ever supposed to trust them again?" he looks at me like he's about to cry again. "Anyway, my biological mother was a teenager, but she died fourteen years ago. I have a fraternal twin brother, though. I thought I'd go find him. Strange thing is; no one knows anything about him, not his number, address, or even first name."

I nod sympathetically. If this was Max, she'd tell the kid to take a hike because we have it worse. But I don't think that's fair. It doesn't make sense to forget small problems because they're small. That's like ignoring little good things simply because they're insignificant.

"What's your name, kid?" I ask.

"Jack- I don't know what my last name is. Not anymore."

"What was your last name, then?"

"Brewer."

"Jack, your last name is still Brewer," I say patiently. "Your foster parents are still the ones that raised you and cared for you. Don't turn your back on them." He nods a little, but doesn't look convinced. "And you never know; your twin brother might be a thug, or a murderer, or a drug dealer, or something awful. But you know what you have here: A family that took care of you even though you aren't theirs by birth." That was, by far, the longest speech I had ever given in my fourteen-ish years of life.

"I just can't believe they betrayed me like that." He says, shivering despite his hoodie. I nod. He's mad now, but I can't do anything besides convince him not to do anything monumentally stupid. As cheesy as it sounds, some things are best left up to Time to heal.

"Well then, isn't there anyone else who would miss you?" I ask. "Friends, teachers, girlfriend?"

"Yeah, you're right. I can't leave my best friends and my dojo behind." I guess I look confused, so he adds, "I do Karate." I nod and he goes on. "There is this one girl….not my girlfriend, but she's a girl, who is my friend, but …." He trails off. "It's hard to explain."

"Been there," I grunt.

He looks at me like he's about to hug me or something, so I take a step back and tell him we should probably go to this dojo place.

"Right, it's in the mall, if you walked this way, you should have passed right by it." I mutter that I did, because now would be an awful time to mention that I did not, in fact, walk.

Then it hits me that he's talking about the same mall that the flock is waiting in. I wonder if it could be a trap, but I realize that Gazzy could probably take this kid with one wing tied behind his back.

"Thanks, man. You probably saved my life back there." He says after a few minutes of silent walking. I grunt.

"What's your name?" he asks again.

"Fang," ugh, if Max found out I gave my real name to a stranger, she will kill me.

"That's an interesting name." he says, narrowing his eyes.

I make a face halfway between a snort and a smirk. A snirk, if you will. "Yeah?" I scoff. "Loads more interesting than_ Jack_."

**Love it? Hate it? Tell me! **


	2. Waiting For a Friend

**Okay, chapter two! Yeah! It's pretty short, an I felt guilty, so I am uploading two chapters today!**

**Disclaimer: When I own these two fandoms, you will receive an invitation to a huge party in Nowhere, Texas. Until such an invitation is in your mailbox, assume I do not own.**

Kim's P.O.V

I check the time. It's well past ten at night. I'm torn between turning Seaford upside down to look for Jack and staying put where he knows I will be when he comes back. Jerry and Milton are sitting on the bench, as far away as they can get from me while I demolish the practice dummies. Rudy is in his office, calling people all over town to ask if anyone has seen him.

Something catches my eye mid-kick. That same group of kids has been walking in circles around the mall for the last half hour or so. I walk out and intercept them on what has to be their sixth or seventh lap.

"Hi, I'm Kim," I tell the tallest boy, assuming that he's the leader.

"Pleased to meet you," he says hesitantly, and sticks his hand out to be shaken, about three feet away from my waist. I glance uncertainly at the girl who is watching me like a hawk. I keep my eye on her as I shake her friend's hand.

"What do you want?" asks the girl, who is wearing jeans, combat boots, and an oversized red hoodie. Now that I notice, all of them have enormous hoodies, jackets, or windbreakers on. And it's only November.

"I uh, noticed that y'all were walking around, and I thought you were looking for someone or something, so I came out to ask if I could help you." I say in my friendliest voice, trying to soothe her. What ruffled her feathers? She's suspicious of everything, looks like.

"You are inside an almost-closed mall with two other people beating up dummies." She states. "Why?"

"I asked first." I say, narrowing my eyes at her.

"We're waiting for my friend, he disappeared earlier today, and I told him to meet us here. No sign of him yet." She says, wincing like she's given away too much.

"Lot of that going around," I mutter. "I'm waiting for a friend too, I haven't heard from him all day. It's not normal for him to be missing," I say, worried. "Do y'all want to come inside? It's pretty chilly out." The girl looks at a six-year-old who could be her little sister or something. They share a nod so brief I almost miss it. The girl nods.

"I'm Max, by the way." She says, acting much more friendly now.

"Oh, is that short for Maxine?" I ask politely. You just do not grow up in my mother's house without learning manners.

"No, it's short for Maximum." She says, almost daring me to make fun of it.

"Wow. You must have crazy parents, huh?" I say with a little laugh. I know it sounds forced.

"You have _no_ idea," she groans.

**Questions? Comments? Ideas? Thoughts? REVIEWS?**


	3. Swagmasters, Nerds, and White Knights

**Chapter Three! It's not that long, either, but I don't really do long chapters. So I hope two short chapters is better than one short chapter. Anyway, here we meet the rest of the flock and the kickin' it gang. Rudy doesn't have a huge role in this story, so I apologize about that. **

Iggy's P.O.V

So from what I gather, I'm in a dojo in a closed strip mall in Seaford, California. Fang went off by himself to check on something about forty-five minute ago. He isn't back, and Max is pacing a hole through the floor. Some nice girl named Kim offered to let us come inside from the chilly air, where she and her friends are waiting for someone named Jack.

Max and Kim, from the sounds of the grunting, have stopped pacing and are engaged in a life and death battle with some punching dummies, which, thankfully, are pretty far away from where I'm sitting on a bench.

Suddenly, the door opens. Everything seems to be in slow motion. Two sets of footsteps come in. I don't have to be able to see to know that everyone's head snaps towards the door. Another door bursts open, and someone cries out, "Jack!"

I hear a girly scream, running footsteps and colliding bodies, Jack says 'shh' softly. Kim mutters something half-heartedly threatening, I can't tell, it sounds muffled.

"Holy Christmas Nuts, Jack is here!"

Soon, everyone is practically attacking Fang and this Jack person. Someone claps their hands to get everyone's attention, and the hubbub dies down.

"Quiet, people!" Shouts the guy who burst out through the other door. "Kim, what is going on?" Everyone seems to think their name is Kim, and begins talking at the same time. Max yells for everyone to shut up.

"Hey!" she barks, "One by freaking one."

"That's right! Listen to-" The yelling man cuts off.

"Max," Kim supplies helpfully.

"Yeah, Listen to Max."

"Ok, Fang, where –" Max starts

"Can we do the interrogation later?" I interrupt. "The kids are sleepy, I don't know who's who, and everyone's hungry."

"I'll order pizza," offers the boy who yelled 'holy Christmas nuts'

Everyone immediately begins calling out what kind of pizza they want until Kim suggests that we should wait until everyone has introduced themselves.

"I'm Jerry, the swagmaster, yo, "someone says. "Check it." He starts playing dance music, and I hear his sneakers squeaking on the mat. He moonwalks over to where I'm guessing Nudge is standing with Gazzy and Angel, and drawls, "What it do, girl?"

"I'm Milton David Krupnick, and I'm a –"

"Nerd" Jerry finishes for him. "He would have talked and talked until we fell asleep, yo." He says. "I told you what you needed to know."

"I'm Gazzy." Says Gazzy proudly.

"Ya mean Gassy?" Kim asks.

"Yes." Max tells her.

"I'm the White Knight." I say, sounding as knightly as possible. "But you can call me Iggy." I can practically feel the raised eyebrows.

"I'm Kim Crawford. I'm a black belt here at the Bobby Wasabi Dojo."

"OMG! I love, love, love your hair! How do you get it to be all straight and shiny like that? Can I please straighten my hair? Max won't let me. Well, we don't have a straightener, but she won't let me buy one. She doesn't let me buy skirts very often, either. Well, that's partly because we don't have a ton of money, but you know, a skirt would be nice once in a while. Or maybe lip gloss. I heard an ad for –" Nudge stops. Max probably glared at her. "I'm Nudge." She says awkwardly.

"Thanks, Nudge. Maybe we can go shopping sometime." Kim says kindly.

"Max Ride," Max says in a dangerous voice.

"Jack Brewer," says the Jack person, the other MIA.

"Fang," with his silent demeanor, Fang has brought down an awkward silence.

"I'm Rudy Gillespie; I'm the best sensei in this town. And you are all welcome here." _Modest, too_, I think.

"Ok, NOW you can order Pizza," Kim allows. Everyone starts talking at the same time again.

_ Oh Great. Just Great._

**Ok, so that was somewhat filler-ish, but they all had to introduce themselves. Chapter four up tomorrow, hope you liked it, review!**


	4. New Guys, Bad News

**Chapter Four! As Jerry would say, Whoooo!**

**Sorry for the late update, I'm putting up two chapters today to make up for that.**

Gazzy's P.O.V

"What's a falafel?" I hiss at Iggy. Falafel is a really fun word to say. It sounds like that Christmas song, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. I like the sound of that. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-fel. They should call it that. I'm too busy thinking about that, and I don't hear Iggy's explanation.

Oh well. We're about to find out. I think it's surprising that Max trusts these people so much. I mean, she's letting them give us food. I'm a little worried, actually. Max always works so hard. Maybe she's letting her guard down because she's tired of watching out for everyone all the time.

_Don't worry, Gazzy. She's not letting her guard down. I promise these people are trustworthy. I think they're very good people. _Angel says, except she's inside my head. You heard it here first, folks. My six-year-old sister is a mind reader/controller.

_What about that Jack guy? The one who went missing yesterday?_ I ask. It is so convenient to have a mind reader around.

_He was mad at his parents and he wanted to run away. But Fang talked him out of it. He's happy to be back. He really cares about his friends, you know. _She thinks at me. Fang talked? I cannot believe that.

_What about Kim? Her and Max aren't going to have those chick-fights like on 'Mean Girls', right?_ I press. Angel laughs.

_Gazzy, when did you watch "Mean Girls"? Anyway, no, they're not. Kim is really caring. She doesn't have evil intentions. Besides, she likes Max. She thinks it's a relief to have another girl her age around._

_ What about the skinny nerd kid? _

_He thinks in facts. It's far too complicated._ Angel tells me. _And before you ask, Jerry's head is too blank and confused to really get much out of, but I think he's a good person._

They sound like a crazy band of misfits, but it looks like they make it work. Hey, so do we! Maybe we can move to Seaford and be misfits together! Wait, if misfits fit in with each other, are they still misfits?

I realize that Jack just asked me a question. "I'm sorry, what?" I say, shaking my head as if to get Angel out of it.

"I said: Where are you guys' parents?" He sounds impatient.

"Sorry, I zoned out," I shrug. "I don't know," I wonder if I should have cooked up a lie about having parents on a honeymoon, or working as missionaries, or something, but I figure there are worse secrets I could give away.

"I'm sorry," he says it sincerely, as if he's actually sad that we don't have parents. Not the muttered sorry you hear when someone accidentally runs your toes over with a shopping cart. Not a sarcastic sorry like Max and Fang fighting, but a genuine, regretful sorry. I have never heard someone sound so truthful. Angel must be right, he's a good guy.

"Are you guys all related?" he asks.

"No, are you?"

"No, just friends," We walk along in silence. Something appears to be on his mind.

"You two planning on being related someday?" I ask cheekily, nodding towards Kim. Then I get out of his arm's range. Jack laughs, and says, "Maybe someday."

The Falafel place looks like something on a reality TV show. Fang and Jack shove two tables together so that there's room for everyone. A man with short hair and the most ridiculous accent I've heard (and I've been to New York, Germany, and England) takes our order.

"Hoo iss your nyooo frand, Kim?" he asks. Kim introduces us. "Vaat sweet childrens!" He says, pinching Angel's cheek.

The food arrives, and everyone eats, too busy shoveling food to talk much besides waving over a waiter to order more.

Someone belches. Loudly. Max and Fang glare at me. I could easily see average humans melting under their combined glares.

"It wasn't me!" I protest, and for the first time, those words are true.

"Jerry!" Milton yells, motioning for everyone to get out of the table and go outside for fresh air. I do that, holding my nose pinched shut. That stench is disgusting. The Gasman may have met his Gassy match, I think as I head out.

We practically collide into a group of people the second we get out. (Well, Kim and Max actually do.)

"Well, well, who do we have here?" asks a person with frizzy hair. Max leans against the wall and looks bored. The knot of people is four boys and a girl in red jackets with dragons printed on the back. They're all glaring at us like we're meat. I'm pretty sure these guys are bad news.

"Are you new in town?" He asks Max flirtatiously. "Then don't hang around these losers, come with us," he says, taking her arm. As Max's honorary brother, I feel obliged to rip him to pieces, but I can practically see the cogs turning in her head as she makes a plan.

Jack walks out after paying the tab and apologizing to everyone about the stench. "What are you doing, Frank?" He asks threateningly.

"Taking the hot new girl around for a spin," he says cockily. I steal a glance at Fang. His jaw muscles are tight, and his hands are balled into fists. Max gives him an I-have-a-plan-now-play-along look. Fang signals behind his back for us to stand down, that Max knows what she's doing.

Jack looks at Fang with a questioning glance. Fang shakes his head no once. Jack nods, understanding. Neither of their expressions changes as they look at each other over the group of shorter people standing between them. _Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did I miss?_

** Ooooh! Sorry, I suck at cliffy endings.**

** So review!**


	5. How does she DO that?

**Ch 5! Let's see how the gang handles Max being gone. Luckily, we have another kick-butt beauty ready to step in. I'm trying to include some Fax/ Kick in here, but it's kind of hard. Suggestions welcome**

Kim' P.O.V.

Max leaves with Frank. What is that rat going to do to her? I'm not worried that she can't defend herself; I'm worried that it will come to that.

It's really tempting to chase after them, smash Frank's head into the concrete, and bring Max back. However, that would be childish, unnecessary, and counterproductive. If push comes to shove, I should let our guest have the honor of ripping Frank's skull out. I don't doubt she can do that without help. And besides, before she left, the expression on her face was so determined and forceful. She knew what she was getting into, and she's doing it for a reason. I want to find out, yes, but right now, I have bigger fish to fry.

"Kim, what's going to happen to Max?" Nudge asks worriedly. "I mean, she's a good fighter and all, but she's outnumbered, and I don't know where they're taking her. ZOMG, what it they have guns? They might kill her! We have to go after her!" Fang's jaw clenches and he glares in the direction they went, as if he can bring them back by glaring. I can tell it's killing him to stand here, helpless.

"Is Max going to be okay?" Angel asks, her enormous blue eyes wide.

"Of course she is. Max is always all right. She always has a plan. She'll be fine." Gazzy says as confidently as he can. "Right, Fang?" Fang only twitches the side of his mouth.

"We need to follow her, yo!" Jerry says. "We have to get her back here. Those Black Dragons are bad news! We gotta go attack them! Tell 'em, Jack!" Even though attacking the Black Dragons is a royally stupid idea, it's the only one we have so far. Jack is pacing back and forth, thinking and debating. He'll come up with a great plan eventually, but we need one now. Fang is still tense, clenching his fists. All this tension could turn disastrous very easily

"Jerry, that increases the chances of-" Milton begins.

"Quiet, Krupnick!" someone shouts. I realize that it's me. "Listen to me," I have everyone's attention, but I have no idea what to say. I only know I have to come up with a good plan, fast, and make everyone go along with it. I have to act put together and in charge. Is this how it is for Max, all the time?

"Jerry is right. We need to follow them, but no attacking. We need to keep track of where she is and make sure she is safe, but from a distance."

"I'll do it" Jack and Fang volunteer at the same time. I weigh my options. I don't doubt that they're excellent fighters. But fighting isn't the point here, and I have no doubt that's exactly what the two of them will do.

"No," I say. "Not you guys."

They look a little put off. Fang growls deep in his throat, and I remember how much Max means to him. I see him narrow his eyes and pound his fist into his hand, and for a minute I'm scared. There's something different about all of them. I've had moments today when I swear I was suspicious of the dog.

Jack puts a hand on Fang's collar. I let out my breath. Jack is here. He isn't going to let anything bad happen.

"I'll go," Iggy declares.

"No. You're entirely too noticeable, you're six feet tall and strawberry blond." I wince before adding the next part. "And no offense, but you're also blind. You running into things and getting hurt is the last thing I need right now." He nods.

"Jerry!" I shout to get his attention. "You, Milton, and Gazzy are going to follow Max and the Black Dragons," I squat down so I'm eye to eye with Gazzy. "You're in charge, little guy. You just make sure everything is all right. If Max needs help, not could use help, not should get help, but really needs it, then you can fight. Not before. And don't let these yahoos do anything stupid," he nods and stands up straighter.

"Kim, I'm scared. What is something happens to Max?" Nudge presses. I look at her and Angel, huddled together, their eyes wide with fear.

"Ladies, we're going to do detailed surveillance of the mall- we are in deep cover, including costume. We are going to scout out every possible hiding place." I say, quoting CSI. Truthfully, the best thing for these two is to get their minds off it, they're too young and too worried to do anyone much good. And I need to stay in the mall, so if worse comes to worst; I can be there to help. "That means we're going shopping." I whisper to Nudge, whose eyes light up.

"What do we do?" asks Iggy. I glance at him, Jack, and Fang. They're dangerous and noticeable guys; they look like they're asking for a fight. "Go to the dojo and blow off some steam." I suggest. "You three are going to wreck things anyway, so do it where you're allowed to."

"Jerry, Milton, Gazzy, vamoose." They look at me blankly.

"Vamoose means go, idiots!" I say, shooing them away. "We're losing precious time!"

"I know what vamoose means!" Jerry yells over his back, and starts blabbering in rapid Spanish. I take Angel's hand and start off towards one of my favorite shoe stores.

As we leave, I can hear Jack ask Fang, "How does she _do_ that?"

** So I'm realizing how incredibly short these chapters are…. Anyway, review! Next Chapter will be about Max, and an interesting discovery…..**


	6. Black and White

**Ch 6 J**

**Max is a little harder to write than Kim…. But anyway, read and review**

Max's P.O.V

_Black and white have more in common than you think_ the voice had told me ever so helpfully as I left breakfast. I have a bigger problem right now, though- Frank. He keeps trying to put his arm around my shoulders or waist-no can do. Wings, people.

"I hear you do karate" I say as brightly as I can, turning so my back is away from him.

"Yeah, and I'm much better than Jack." This guy can't talk without spitting. I wipe my face for the tenth time. I suppress the urge to knock all his teeth out, and remind myself of the mission. Look for information regarding the flock's families.

"Oh, do you go to the Bobby Wasabi dojo, too?" I ask as sweetly as I can, even though I know the answer already.

"No!" spit. Again. Ew. "I go to the best dojo in town, the Black Dragon." He says proudly.

Wait, _Black_ dragon? Could that be the black the voice was talking about? Only one way to find out. I grit my teeth, thankful no one from the flock is seeing me act like a clingy, girly teenager.

"That sounds cool! Can you show me where that is?" I have a gut feeling that this Black Dragon place has something I'm looking for. Whether that's answers or more food, I don't know yet.

"Of course!" again, with the touching my back thing.

Before we walk in, I do a quick 360 of my surroundings. No one eraser-y looking enough to be a problem. There's an emergency exit in the back, most likely an office, and the front door is fairly unobstructed. There's lots of windows too. Assured that I can escape if need be, I follow Frank and his buddies in.

_Head of the Dragon_ the voice suggests. _Terrific, Voice_. I think at it. _Not even a full sentence._

I ignore Frank as he brags about all the trophies the dojo has won. He's busy twirling a long stick around, about to take everyone's eye out. I'm looking for something that resembles a head. One of the trophies, maybe? A poster? Am I supposed to smash everyone' skull in until I get an answer? I move quickly to avoid being smacked in the head by Frank. A door sign catches my eye.

_Head Office_

Is this going to be a wild goose chase? Probably. Do I go in? You bet.

Luckily, there's no one in there. There's a desk cluttered with papers, nunchuks, throwing stars, and photographs of a very smug-looking person, Sensei Ty Tyson. (His Indian name can be Redundant Name Man.)

I hear footsteps, so I dive under the desk. It's awfully cramped, and the wood is peeling off from underneath it and poking my head. Wait, that's not wood.

That's a packet. Full of papers. Under the desk.

Unless I am very much mistaken, papers belong on top of the desk, unless you want to hide them. And the only reason you'd want to hide papers sealed with red wax is because they contained top-secret information.

I shift silently so I can see the packet better. It has letters stenciled on it that read Death Valley, California.

This is probably the biggest break we've had in years. It couldn't be planted here- this wasn't a planned stop. I grab the packet and put it under my shirt.

Two steps of footsteps. "Where is she, sensei Ty?" I hear Frank say. They turn around, and I pop up. Their reflexes are better than I thought, because they pivot around in a second. Shoot.

"What are you doing here, young lady?" the sensei asks furiously, throwing a ninja star at my head. "Why are you in my office?"

"I was looking for the bathroom" I offer lamely. My excuse-making capacity has been slightly deterred by a flying blade missing my ear by an inch. "This is clearly not it. So I will leave now." I say, and bow like Jackie Chan. One of my worst excuses, but I decide to milk it for all it's worth. The exit is blocked by two of Frank's friends.

"I really have to go to the bathroom" I plead.

"Not so fast." Ty warns, holding up another of his ninja stars.

"I can go here, if you like." I snap at him, doing an imitation of Gazzy's potty dance. I can't uncross my arms without the packet sliding out.

"Run. I expect to see you back here in five minutes, understood?" I nod and run out the office, out of the Black Dragon, away from the sensei who throws blades at people and head towards the Bobby Wasabi Dojo.

I see Gazzy on the way, along with the swagmaster and the nerd.

"Dojo, ASAP!" I bark and continue running. They follow me, panting as they try to keep up. "Nerd, call Kim!" I order. He fumbles with his phone and slows a little. Gazzy grabs the phone from him and tells Kim that we're coming to the dojo, now. Without breaking stride. That's my boy.

We burst through the doors to find three extremely sweaty, tense teenage boys sparring with bo staffs. They stop the second we enter, and Jack demands to know where Kim is right away. Gazzy tells him we called her and she's coming.

"Yo, you're holding your stomach, is something wrong? Are you sick?" Jerry asks with concern.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" Jack asks, reaching for a phone to call an ambulance.

"I'm fine. They didn't hurt me, just had an awkward – you know what, I'll explain when everyone comes in." I say, walking over to Fang.

"I found a clue." I tell him softly. "Flock meeting when they're back."

"They are" Fang says, motioning towards the door as Kim, Nudge, Angel, and Total walk in.

Jack jumps onto a chair.

**So, yes, chapter six. Review**


	7. Crackin' it

**Ch 7 This is a little filler-ish, but anyway, here it is. Everyone is getting cracking on the code. **

**Disclaimer: Nope, not yet. I'll tell you when I do.**

Milton P.O.V

"I can't believe he actually threw something at you without giving you a chance to explain!" Kim exclaims indignantly and stands up. "Oh, just wait until I get my hands on that sick, egotistical son of a –"

"Okay, Kim, that's enough!" Jack shouts over the end of her sentence and sits her back down, keeping a firm grip on her arm.

"He didn't hit me," Max says for the thousandth time. "I'm fine."

"Show us what you found, Max!" Angel says eagerly. Wait a minute. Max never mentioned finding anything.

"Who says I found anything, Angel?" Max grinds out through her teeth. I can tell she wasn't supposed to mention that. How did she even know? I don't remember Max mentioning it to anyone.

"It's ok, Max. We can tell them about this thing. Maybe not the important thing, but this thing, yes. They actually need to know, they can help us. Especially Jack," Ok, officially the creepiest six-year-old ever. She needs to get her head checked.

"What's she talkin' about, yo?" Jerry asks predictably. "I'm confused."

"You and me both," I agree.

"Max, what is going on here?" Kim asks carefully.

"We don't know where or who our parents are, or if they're even still alive. Well, Max knows about hers. We've been looking for clues, and Max thinks she's got one." Angel explains. I stare at her. She's only six, but she seems so much older. It's a little sad, actually. Not for the first time, I wonder about their lives. It must have been twice as hard as I imagined without parents.

"What's the difference between 'this thing' and the 'important thing'? Jack asks.

"I can't tell you that yet," I hope she'll tell us soon, because no one I know, and especially not Jack, deals very well with suspense.

"Well, show us the clue!" Gazzy demands. Max pulls out a packet of papers sealed with red wax from underneath her shirt. I decide not to touch it, that's unsanitary. Who knows when these kids last had a bath?

"You found this inside the Black Dragon?" Iggy asks. "Why?" Max shrugs.

"Hold on, if he started throwing stuff at you once he discovered you're in his office, do you think he suspected you of taking this file?" Nudge asks reasonably. "Because he might be protecting it for whatever reason and he doesn't want us to read what's inside. Once he discovers it's missing, he's going to come after you."

"Ok, let's do this fast, then," Jack says, shutting the blinds and locking the doors. "Get it over with."

"No, guys, not here. If Ty comes looking for me in here, you're all in danger. I can't do that." Max says.

"Then what are you going to do, carry that thing around under your shirt forever?" I snap. She needs to put her pride aside. We can take care of ourselves.

"I don't want to tangle you guys up in this."

"Well, we're already tangled up, so open that file before I come grab it from you!" Kim shouts impatiently, making a grab for the file. Max snatches it away from her. With a pocketknife, she breaks the seal and pulls out a stack of papers.

I'm a little disappointed by the state they're in. They've been hidden under Ty's desk for long enough to become brittle, yellow, and water-damaged.

"What is it? What does it say? What's going on? I can't see!" Gazzy shouts.

"I can't see either!" Iggy echoes. I think his blind jokes are becoming old.

Max wordlessly passes the stack of papers to Fang. He stares down at the pages, up at the ceiling, takes a deep breath, and looks back down. "They're in code,"he says, a little disappointed and a little relieved.

"Before we start cracking codes, can someone please explain to me why it was in the Black Dragons' dojo?" Kim presses.

"Black and white are more alike than you think" Max says in a mocking voice. (But I don't know who or what she's mocking.)

"White what?" Jerry asks, snapping out of a daze. "White what? White clouds? White jacket? White marshmallows? White chocolate?"

"Jerry, You're a genius!" Max yells out of the blue, and gives him a high five. I, Milton Krupnick, the resident genius, am having trouble figuring out what Jerry said that was so amazing.

"What?" Kim splutters. She isn't used to people telling Jerry he's a genius either!

"Whitecoats! Black Dragons and Whitecoats!" Max yells. "Black and White! More similar than you think!"

"No, no, I said white chocolate, not white coat." Jerry says.

"You're not making sense, Max. Maybe you should lie down for a while." Jack suggests.

Max whirls on him suspiciously. "Why? Am I getting too close to the answer? Are you a whitecoat? Or an eraser?" she pokes Jack's hair.

"Max, honey, get some rest. It'll all look better after you've taken a nap." Kim says a bit patronizingly.

"What do you mean, am I an eraser? Do I _look_ like an eraser to you?" Jack asks indignantly.

"Sorry, I know you aren't. I'm just paranoid. You can never tell who is an eraser." What is she talking about? Paranoia? Erasers? Last I checked, it's easy to tell people and erasers apart. Heck, even Iggy could do it.

"Calm down," Fang orders. That's the loudest I've ever heard him speak.

"He's right. We need to sit down and think this out. Iggy, you're really good at cracking codes and things, so I'll read some of it out to you first. Is there a library or laptop somewhere around here? Because we need to look up information about encryption. I could probably hack into some- I mean, look up some government files about codes." Nudge says. Everyone looks at her, unsused to her gving orders.

"You heard the lady, move it!" Max barks, and everyone settles down with a few of the pages. I log onto my laptop, and hand it to Nudge. I watch her fingers fly at a blinding speed as she breaks down firewall after firewall and scans over different pages.

Jack and Kim are poring over a row of numbers together, and their heads keep colliding. If they weren't in such a big hurry to look away from each other, they'd notice that their blushing faces matched shades.

Max and Fang are sitting together against the lockers, writing something down, and then erasing it again. Jerry is reading out numbers to Iggy, and the two little ones are perched atop all the mats, flipping pages. I turn back to Nudge, who is calling out different ways of cracking codes.

After hours, when everyone is cross-eyed and nodding off to sleep, Rudy comes in and tells us we should get some sleep. Kim offers to take us all to her house to put up for the night. Max picks up Angel, and Jack throws Gazzy over his shoulder, and they tiptoe after Kim. Fang grabs all the papers, and heads out with Iggy. Nudge and Jerry are the last ones out, they lock the door. Slowly and quietly, our merry band of misfits walks across the sleeping city to the Crawfords' house.

**Comin' up: Will the gang find out the flock's feathered secret?**

**Review, ya'll!**


	8. Hiding Wings

**Ch 8. Hey guys. How you likin' it so far? let me know! 'd like o take this time to say that whenever Fang and Jack have arguments about whose hair is cooler, I am only writing from their points of view. I am completely impartial and think their hair is equally is awesome.**

**Disclaimer: (which I've been forgetting to do lately, sorry about that) still don't own, don't sue.**

Fang's P.O.V

The rising sun glaring into my eyes wakes me up in the morning. Note to Self: Never go to sleep in a tree facing east. The Crawfords weren't home, and Kim's sister had the spare key, so we had decided to camp out in the backyard.

I get out of the tree and onto the ground. I go to wake Max, but she's already up. Her hair is in a birds nest, and her eyelids are drooping with sleep.

"Mornin'," I whisper. She cracks half a smile and glances at the watch on my wrist.

"It's too early to be awake" she groans. Max isn't a morning person, but she's gotten in the habit of waking up before everyone else. I like mornings, though-it's quiet and no one bothers you. You have a few moments to gather your thoughts and get ready for the day, the calm before the storm, if you will. I don't know how to explain that to Max, though. She'd probably laugh at me and tell me to stop being a sap. So I smirk instead, which is kind of my reaction to everything.

"You wake the guys and I wake the girls?" Max asks, rubbing her eyes and pushing matted hair off her face. I nod, and go to find Iggy. (Even without his wings showing, he sticks out like a sore thumb.)

Soon everyone is sitting on the patio furniture eating granola bars, apples, and canned peaches for breakfast. The other kids probably think it's disgusting, but the Flock thinks its five star cuisine.

"I think canned peaches are my new favorite food," Jack says after we're done.

"Really? Then you probably haven't eaten desert rat yet" I say. He looks at me to see if I'm kidding. We both smirk at each other and flick hair out of our faces. It's like I'm looking in a mirror, but my skin is a little paler and my hair is a little less awesome.

"Back to the dojo?" Jack asks. "Take another stab at that dumb code?"

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Max asks. "What's in it for you?"

"I'm not a quitter. When I start something, I finish it." Jack says simply. My respect for the guy just went up. He glances at me before continuing. "You helped me out when I needed it, and I plan to repay you." His words hang in the air, and Max nods at him approvingly.

"Back to the dojo, then," Kim announces, leading the way out of her backyard.

Three hours later, Gazzy is the first one to break. I wasn't expecting it; he's usually a grin-and-bear-it-and-blow-things-up kind of guy.

"Ugh! I want to smash something! This isn't getting anywhere! It's been two whole days, and we're still exactly where we started!" He shouts, throwing down his pile of papers.

"I know it's hard, Gazzy, but-" Max begins soothingly.

"No you don't, Max. You already know who your parents are. This isn't important to you. You have _no idea_ how hard it is." He bursts out. Everyone is silent. I can't believe he said that. Of course it's important to Max- she cares about us as much as- if not more- than she cares about herself.

"I think now would be a great time for a break." Kim says as cheerfully as possible.

"Milton, Iggy, Let's go pick up some chow for everyone" Jerry says, grabbing the two by the wrists and dragging them towards the food court.

"Can we spar, Jack?" Gazzy asks shyly. "I need to blow off some steam and I hate those practice dummies." That much is true- Gazzy can't stand wax sculptures, robots, dummies, paintings – anything that looks like a human but isn't. I wonder why (sarcasm).

"I don't know, Gazzy. I'm a second degree black belt. I really don't want to hurt you." Jack says gently, putting one hand on Gazzy's shoulder. I smother the urge to laugh hysterically; it would be very un-Fang-like of me. Besides, I can't wait to see how this turns out. Ah, humans. Thinking they can beat genetic engineering.

"I can handle it." Gazzy says. "I'm pretty good at fighting, too." Still looking uncertain, Jack agrees and moves to one end of the mat. They bow and Max yells go. She and Nudge have an I-can't-wait-to-see-how-this-goes looks on their faces.

Gazzy launches a flurry of punches at Jack, who has his hands full trying to block them. He grabs a hold of Gazzy's arm, and flips him over his head. Gazzy lands on his feet and lashes out at Jack's chest with a side kick. In his rush to avoid it, Jack almost loses his balance, and does a low kick to try and sweep Gazzy's legs out from under him. Gazzy jumps over it easily, and manages to grab his opponent's wrist. Jack can't get out of his grip, so he does a spinning back kick, and it hits Gazzy in the back.

He isn't getting up. I rush to his side, but Jack is already there, apologizing.

"Oh God, Gazzy, I'm sooo sorry, I really didn't mean to kick you that hard, I just got carried away in the fight, and I-"

"Save it" Gazzy wheezes. "I'm fine."

"Walk it off, man," I tell Gazzy. "Get up."

Gazzy looks at me uncertainly, and I rack my brain for excuses to get Jack to go away.

"Do you need to go to the emergency room, hun?" Kim asks gently, coming over with Max and Nudge.

"No!" we all say a bit too forcefully.

"Er, that won't be necessary. I'm sure he's fine, nothing broken." Max adds, smiling convincingly. "He's a tough little guy, aren't you, Gazzy?"

"We should check to make sure you didn't crack a rib or anything. Make sure there's no severe bruising," Jack says. "I am so, so sorry."

"Stuff it, Brewer." Max orders. She's cute when she's angry. No, wait, I didn't just think that. Forget it. I glance at him sympathetically and mouth 'it's okay'

"Gazzy, I need you to take off your shirt so I can make sure you aren't hurt too badly." Kim says, gently.

"No!" Gazzy says, looking at me pleadingly. I try to figure out what to say, and as usual, fail.

"It's ok, little guy, I'll do it," Jack says reassuringly, assuming Gazzy doesn't want the girls in the room. "Max, Nudge, Kim, could you step out for a minute?" he asks politely.

"No!" Gazzy says again.

"Come on, man, what's wrong?" Jack asks, elbowing him jokingly. "It's not like you're hiding wings under that or anything" He laughs at his own joke, unknowingly having hit the nail on the head. This is our last chance. Do we club them over the head, grab Gazzy and fly? Something won't let me do it. I refuse to attack people who helped us when there was nothing in it for them.

"Yeah, guys, see, about that…"

**Ooooh! Gazzy gave it away!**

**Review!**


	9. Swasome

**Ch 9**

**This was a really fun chapter to write, but it's very, very short. Sorry about that, I'll have another posted tomorrow!**

Jerry's P.O.V

I walk into the dojo, carrying four boxes of large pizzas. Milton is carrying a bag of pretzels and juice, and telling Iggy when he needs to turn. I still can't believe he can't see, but still walks around like a normal person. It's swasome.

Suddenly, I see something that totally beats that: Gazzy has wings coming out of his shirt. They look real. Wonder how long that took him. One is a little bent though. Maybe he dropped it.

"Whoa, dude, nice wings!" I shout. "Can I get a pair?"

No one responds. They're too busy staring. I guess they still can't get over the swasomeness of it all.

"Are they-are they- Do they-work?" Kim asks. She sounds scared.

"Is that the big thing? That Gazzy has wings?" Jack asks, staring and trying not to stare.

"Not Just Gazzy." Max sighs, the way my mom does when she's trying to tell me to stop dancing. She shakes out her shoulders, and enormous wings come out of slits in her jacket. They're kind tan and cream and brown and white. Like an eagle, but bigger. And you know, attached to a person.

Fang whips out his wings, too, forcefully enough to cause an air current. They're a bit bigger than Max's wings, so black and glossy they look bluish purple in some spots. Iggy is next. They're the same color as his hair. Nudge's wings are chocolate brown, and a lot smaller and softer looking than everyone else's. Angel's wings look like, well, angel wings. The kind you see in pictures in churches.

"Sweet Cheese," is the only thing Kim can come up with after about fifteen minutes of surprised silence.

"Holy Christmas Nuts!" Milton squeaks.

"Swasome," I agree.

"So, you guys have wings," Jack says once he gets over the shock. "That's cool," he nods and tries to act like he meets winged people all the time.

"Do they work?" Kim demands. Max nods her head yes, and pulls her wings back in. So does everyone else.

No one can say anything. What are you supposed to say when you discover someone can fly?

The tension in the air is thick enough to spread on toast.

The dog, Total, comes in from Rudy's office, where he had been taking a nap. He must think we're playing some type of game, the way we're all standing silent and frozen.

"Oh, so you found out about the wings?" Total says.

That's right. Total says. Total. As in the dog.

"Flying kids, talking dogs, what's next?" I say as bravely as I can, only it comes out as a whimper. Everyone immediately starts running their mouths at once. No one actually listens to what anyone else is saying, because they're too busy making their own point.

"I need some air," Fang chokes out, and runs out the door.

**Uh-Oh. Where's he going now?**

**Review!**


	10. Calm and Irritating

**Ch. 10**

**A little Fang and Jack Bromance hereJ hope y'all like it! Ok, not the best chapter, kinda short and filler-y, but the next might be longer. That being said, read and review!**

Fang's P.O.V

I burst through the doors of the dojo and run out to the woods behind it. I fly to the top of the tallest tree, desperately wracking my brain about where to go from here. I need to clear my head and figure out what to do from here.

It would have been much easier to leave before we showed them our wings. It would have been easier before Gazzy got hurt. It would have been easier before Max found that packet and we spent two days trying to crack it. But those things happened, and now it's practically impossible.

As much as I trust these kids, we can't leave them here if the Black Dragons are tied to the whitecoats. If they find out they helped us, Jack and his crew are headed for things much worse than death.

Besides, the kids will never agree to leave. They won't want to leave a relatively normal life in a normal town. And why would they? I wouldn't either. I'd love to stay here, with loyal friends and a close-knit community. Hell, even Max wouldn't mind. Except for these stupid _wings. _

Suddenly it hits me how much of a normal life I've missed out on. I've never had a normal school day, I've never had time to learn to ride a skateboard, I've never sat in a roach-infested falafel place after school every day with the girl I love and my best friends in the world. And I'm never going to. Stupid School. Stupid Institute. Stupid Itex. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID _WINGS!_

I punch a branch in my frustration, and it gets torn off the trunk and crashes down. As blood flows from my knuckles, I numbly realize there's a hundred splinters embedded in my hand.

"Hey, watch it!" A voice calls from below. I snap into a fighting stance, making the branch I'm sitting on sway under my weight.

Jack appears through the branches. His face and hands are scratched by the rough bark of the tree. He heaves himself up and perches across from me. "Why'd you come up here?" he asks, having the good grace to avert his eyes from my wounded hand.

"For the view," I snap sarcastically.

"Been a rough couple days, huh?" he asks sympathetically.

"Why'd you come up here?" I ask. Why is he so calm?

"To see where you went. Make sure you weren't hurt."

_What is it to him?_

"I can take care of myself."

I am usually a very calm, put together person. I never lose my temper. I have never, ever met someone calmer than me. It's irritating. "I don't need your help"

"Yeah, so can I," Jack says gently. "I don't need help either," he pauses. "But you helped me anyway. You stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life. So now I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not."

I don't say anything. What do you say to that? A simple 'thanks' sounds washed out and wimpy.

"How'd you get wings?" Jack presses. Jeez, he is more persistent than Max with cookies.

"Doesn't matter. I got 'em."

"Tell me. Man to man."

_More like, mutant bird kid to self-proclaimed super hero_ I think to myself.

"Genetic engineering. Grafting human and Avian genes together, I've had them since I was a baby," I say.

"So they kept you in, like, a zoo and had you fly around?"

"No, actually, they kept us in cages and did experiments on us. Why do you think Iggy is blind?" I say, a hard edge entering my voice.

"Why?"

"Beats me. Why did they put wings on babies? Why did they make Erasers? Why did they mess with genetics in the first place?" I ask. Officially the most questions I've ever asked out loud.

"What's an eraser? Max thought I was one."

Max thought Jack was an eraser? I wonder why the thought never even crossed my mind.

"Half wolf, half human. Judge, Jury, and Hangman for the scientists that made them. Killing machines, if you will."

Jack isn't an eraser. My gut would have warned me.

"How'd you get out?" he sounds genuinely awed.

"One of the wackos turned good long enough to let us out, and then went back to the dark side. He got us out, but Max kept us out."

"What about your parents? They let that happen to you?"

"They don't know us, we don't know them." I answer shortly.

"But you're looking?" Jack asks. "The packet? Is that what's in it?"

"We haven't cracked the code yet." I remind him. I don't want to talk about this. At all.

"One last question," Jack says slowly. "The dog, Total, he doesn't fly, right? 'Cause that would be too terrifying to handle."

I smirk and shake my head no. "He talks, though. And believe me, that's much, much worse."


	11. They Meant It :)

**Ch 11**

**This is my attempt at some flirting/romance. I'm extremely sorry, but I can't flirt to save my life, in the real world or in writing.**

Nudge's .

"I can't believe the idiots disappeared! Again!" Kim fumes, talking about Jack and Fang.

"Honestly, I have half a mind to just go hide somewhere myself and see how they like it!" Max adds. They're pacing back and forth, almost running into each other every time. They look as different as two girls the same age can possibly look, but they act similar, as if they've been hanging out forever, and didn't just meet yesterday.

"You two need to calm down. They can take care of themselves." I remind them. It's only partly true- Fang without Max is a big mess. And Jack and Kim are practically joined at the hip.

"No they can't!" The girls exclaim together.

"What if the Black Dragons attacked them? They could be hurt!" Kim yells.

"That sensei Ty is nothing but trouble. They could be halfway to the School by now!" Max shouts. _Yeah, if they had a private chopper and helipad,_ I think to myself.

"What's the school?" Kim asks. This is going to be an awkward question. Max hates talking about things that have already happened. She prefers to 'roll it up, stomp on it, and move on'.

"The hellhole where we got these wings," Max explains, and goes back to pacing.

"Language!" Kim exclaims, shocked, nodding her head towards Angel and Gazzy solving a jigsaw puzzle in the corner.

"Chillax, ladies," Jerry says, popping his collar. "Jerry has it under control. Tell 'em, Jack," I've noticed that 'tell 'em, Jack' is kind of his justification to everything. Kim marches over to Jerry, grabs him by the collar, and slams him against the lockers.

"Jack. Is. Missing." She grinds out, her voice rising in pitch with each word. She looks like she'd like to slam his head against the locker until his teeth fall out.

"Kim, stop! That isn't helping." Max cries out, dragging the angry blonde off Jerry, who looks confused. Max is usually a big fan of slamming people into things, but since Jerry conked out is even less helpful to us than Jerry conscious, she makes her stop.

"Just call your boyfriend," Max tells Kim, before going back to pacing. Kim laughs an unnaturally high, giggly laugh.

"He's not my boyfriend," she says, a little sadly.

"Oh, sorry, I assumed-" Max starts. "You wish he was, don't you?" she sounds a lot more sympathetic than I expect. How many times, when I squeal about clothes and boys, has she said 'forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate?'

"Little bit."

Max nods understandingly. That doesn't make sense- she's usually been very opposed to the whole 'boyfriend' thing. Unless…

"Fang!" I yell

"Where?" Max snaps, turning towards the door, which is disappointingly empty.

"Kim wishes Jack was her boyfriend, you wish Fang was your boyfriend!" I ignore mutterings of 'do not either'

"That's so perfect! You guys can go on a double date! Like, if we stay here, can we please, Max? Please, please, please? Anyway, if we stay here, then we'd all go to the same school, probably, and you guys could go on double dates! It would be so perfect and romantic! And then you can go to prom together, and then you could get married on the same day, and live next door to each other, and –"

Max glares, so I stop talking. I swear I think better when I say my thoughts out loud. "At least double dates?" I try weakly.

"Better make it triple, doll" Jerry says, sliding his arm around my waist. Max takes one step towards him, and he immediately drops his arm. "Or, you know, double works too."

"No. We have a code to crack and parents to find." Max says.

"That packet isn't going anywhere, but your youth is." I snap at both of them. Honestly, such beautiful, tough girls, who can send a grown man crying for mommy, too afraid to go on a date?

"We have a mission here, Nudge." Max reminds me. As if I need reminding. All my life, I've been on a mission. To survive without grownups, to rescue Angel, to take down Anne, hell, even to save the world. Just once, I'd really like to take a night off to relax.

"Listen up and listen good, ladies" I tell them. "Screw the mission, screw the code-cracking, and screw the wings. At least for tonight. I want to have one normal night. Just one, Max. Please?"

"Never mind what they say, doll, I'll take you." Jerry promises, careful to stay out of Max's reach.

"It's a date," I agree, smiling. Now Max will have to come.

"Wear something, cute, doll, and pick you up at seven," He says, clicking his tongue and winking. I realize he's a bit on the slow side, but it's sweet of him to offer to take me to dinner, and I don't even mind being called 'doll'

"She's not actually going anywhere," Max reminds him.

"And Jack is better at the clicking and winking thing, anyway," Kim says, doing an awful imitation.

"Gotta agree with that, Kimmy, but that was awful." Jack says, walking in through the door with Fang.

Max and Kim turn around and refuse to look at them.

"What got into her?" say the lost boys at the same time. Oh my gosh, I can't believe they said something at exactly the same time, as if they're brothers or something! They should say Jinx! But I guess you get too old for that after a while. But no one, not even Angel and Gazzy says stuff together like that, and they're related.

"Kim!" Jack calls out.

"Max!" Fang says at the same time. Both girls run up to them and look like they're about to hug them, but instead, Max grabs Fang by the collar and smashes him against the wall. Kim jabs a finger in Jack's throat, and he backs away with his hands up until he hits the wall, too.

"Next time you leave," Kim growls menacingly, "Tell someone. Or I set Total on you. Dressed as a clown." Jack gulps.

"Do not disappear, EVER again, unless you want me to rip out your spine and beat you to death with it. 'Prende?" Max's voice is low and dangerous.

"I don't know, Fang, do you think they sound a little-" A warning glance from Kim shuts him up.

"Worried?" Fang picks up the sentence without so much as glancing at Jack. "Yes, I believe they do. I think-" Max smacks him in the head to make him stop talking.

"-You have a little crush on me" they finish together. How did they do that?

"You weren't even looking at each other! Did you plan it? That's impossible! And supremely creepy! You were like, reading each other's minds! That's so cool!" I shout, unable to contain myself.

They let go of the lost boys' collars and slam their heads together. They recover almost instantly, and grin like maniacs. For all the girls' bravado and threatening, they know exactly how worried they had been, and they're not afraid to use it.

"Aw, come on, you love me thiiiiis much," they say mockingly, spreading their arms out wide and nearly whacking each other's faces. _Stop talking together, it's getting creepy. Are you Fred and George Weasley from _Harry Potter_ or something?_

Kim blushes bright red. "I had a 104 degree fever, Jackass, I didn't mean it!" she snaps, her voice rising in pitch. _Well, someone's an awful liar._

"I was on valium, idiot. I didn't know what I was saying. You think I meant that?" Max huffs, rolling her eyes. The slightest red shade on her cheeks gives it away.

Fang and Jack look downtrodden for a minute. Satisfied, the girls turn on their heels and go to leave. They guys glance at each other and go back to smirking/grinning. "They so meant it" They tell each other, slapping high-fives.

"Is anyone else freaked out by the fact that they're talking at the same time and finishing each other's sentences?" Jerry, who has been silent this whole time, asks.

Everyone silently raises their hands, including Jack and Fang. We all stare in awe at them, but even they don't seem to understand what happened. An uneasy silence fills the room.

"Let's go get ready, Maximum." Kim says in a stuck-up voice.

"I agree, Kimberly" Max nods, and turns up her nose. They look back at me and say, "Monique?" I link arms with them, and we turn to face the lost boys.

"Full names, girls?" Jack stifles a laugh

"Puh-lease." Fang snorts.

"Gentlemen, it is our intention to dine tonight at Le Lune restaurant, and should you wish to join us, you are more than welcome. Right now, we must excuse ourselves." Kim says, looking down her nose even though the subjects of her scorn are a half-foot taller than her.

"Translation : Clean up, show up, and pay up." Max snaps, and tries to flip her hair.

"Close your mouth, you'll swallow flies." I advise them as I follow Max and Kim out the door. They haven't gone far, though, just around the corner. Max puts a finger to her lips, and signals me to crouch down.

"Did they just-" Jack is getting over his shock

"Ask us on a date?" Fang finishes.

"Then-" Jack says thoughtfully, a slow grin spreading over his face

"That means" Fang says cautiously

"They_ totally_ meant it."


	12. Clean up, Show up, and Pay up

**Ch 12 **

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

Jack P.O.V

I don't know why it takes girls so long to get ready. Iggy and Jerry are certain it's just to make us nervous. As if I need any more of that right now. Also not helping is the sound of running feet and voices calling out upstairs, and one really terrifying instance of someone yelling 'put it out, put it out, put it out!' You heard it here first, folks, Jack Brewer is nervous.

I think it was smart of Nudge to suggest a night off. The encrypted files in the packet Max found were driving everyone crazy. After three days of swimming in numbers and codes, I can't wait to go out for a nice dinner, even though dressing nice and fancy to-do-ups aren't my thing. Besides, Kim will be there, laughing and teasing and…

"What time is it? I'm hungry!" Gazzy whines, tugging on my shirtsleeve and snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Seven fifteen. And we're all hungry, Gazzy, I'm sure it won't take much longer." As if on cue, all four girls come down the stairs of the Crawford home. They spent at least an hour and a half getting ready, while we played x-box on the couch.

Angel is wearing a poufy pink skirt with matching hair ribbons. "Looking lovely, princess" I tell her, tugging on a hair ribbon.

"Practicing on me for Kim?" she teases, whacking my hand away from her hair.

Nudge looks so different I don't even recognize her- her hair has been straightened (now I totally see why they needed so long- she has more hair than me and Fang put together.) Her dress is bright red, with matching red shoes that look a little like Dorothy's ruby slippers in Wizard of Oz. Jerry's jaw drops open, and he tries to say something that comes out as a squeak. '_Smooth' _I mouth at him.

Max comes down the stairs stiffly, cursing at the heels she borrowed from Kim. She's wearing a bright purple dress decorated with white flowers, and some more white flowers are tucked in her hair. Fang smiles at her shyly and holds out a hand. I cross my fingers for him that she takes it. She does.

Kim comes down the stairs last, dressed in a shiny turquoise dress, her hair curling down around her shoulders. She breaks out her red carpet walk and stops a foot away from me. It's getting hard to breathe. (On second thought, that could be a good thing, I could faint and she could give me mouth to mouth. Actually, knowing Kim, she'd probably just draw a mustache on my face.)

"Jack, I said, Let's go," Kim says, tapping her foot and snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Wha? Huh? Oh. Right. Yes. Let's go." Jerry clicks his tongue at me disapprovingly.

"Oh, because you did so much better," I mouth at him as we leave the house quietly to avoid being stopped by Kim's parents, who will undoubtedly want to take a hundred pictures.

We walk out to the van. "I'll drive," Iggy offers, opening the driver's door.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Kim asks, pulling him away from the car. "You're kind of blind. Maybe I should drive, or Max-"

"NO!" Fang practically yells.

"He's right, you really don't want me to drive" Max agrees sheepishly.

"Guys, I'm the best driver here." Iggy says assuredly.

"Do you even have a permit?" I ask dubiously.

"Did Picasso have an art permit?" He asks, grinning, as he turns the key in the ignition. "You guys coming or not?" I ask every God listening to please spare us.

Fang sits in the middle, and I sit in the passenger seat. Milton, Gazzy and Jerry sit in the middle row, and the four girls are squeezed into the back.

Luckily, Total has been left behind at the dojo. Everyone is silent except for Fang telling Iggy where to turn and where there are cars and what color the traffic lights are.

"So, um, anyone ever eaten at Le Lune before?" I ask, trying to start a conversation.

"No, but we ate at the Ritz once," Gazzy says. "Of course, we ran into policemen, and erasers and Max dumped olive oil on the evil waiter and we had to go into hiding for a while after that, but it was fun while it lasted."

"No it wasn't, they wouldn't bring us food because they thought we were ordering too much." Nudge reminds him.

"That ain't cool, yo." Jerry interjects. I roll my eyes.

"According to code 97163 of restaurant ownership-" Milton begins, but I cut him off.

"How much did you order?"

"You'll see." Max says mysteriously.

….

"All right, so I want three grilled chicken sandwiches. And some mashed potatoes. Also some spaghetti with meatballs, I'd like some of that. And to drink, let's see, can I get a mango smoothie? Make that two, actually." Angel tells the waiter. She is the last person to order.

He writes it down, filling up the second page of his little notepad. "Your order will be out shortly." He says in a daze, walking slowly to the kitchen.

"You're going to eat all that?" Jerry says, incredulous.

"And you manage to stay this skinny? So jealous!" Kim adds.

"Actually, since you're part avian, it makes sense that you need more calories, because the metabolism of birds is much faster than humans', because they use up more energy."

"This is the first time ever I'm not the biggest eater." I say a little sadly. Goodbye, winning twenty dollars because no one believes I can put down three large cheese pizzas.

"Yep, you lost your title to the king." Fang says smugly.

"At least my hair is cooler than yours." I retort.

"Oh, it's on now, punk!"

"Who you callin' punk, punk?" I snap.

"Guys!" Kim hisses.

"Would you believe this guy thinks his hair is better-looking than mine?" I ask, incredulous. No one, and I mean no one insults my hair and gets away with it. Ever.

"My hair is shinier." Fang insists. "And it doesn't look girly."

"My hair doesn't not look girly! Angel's hair looks girly!" I tell him. He did not just go there.

"Yeah, well, she's actually a girl, so it's ok. But you, Jack, or should I say Jacqueline," he begins, staying unruffled and calm. Everyone else is talking, completely uninterested in our hair battle. How can people stand by and let such an injustice take place? I resist the urge to throw a bread roll at him.

"Nudge, whose hair looks better?" I ask her. She stops talking to Jerry for a minute, and considers the question.

"I think mine does, actually." She smirks, and turns her attention back to Jerry.

"Ladies, ladies, stop arguing about your hair right now, or you don't get food." Max declares, effectively shutting both of us up.

I cross my arms over my chest and huff, "Fine." Fang does the same thing at the same time. I'm starting to freak myself out. Everyone is silent as they stare at us.

"So, uh, how's school going?" Nudge asks.

"I'm failing algebra." Jerry says sullenly. "Again." This is met with a lot of Kim being disappointed in him, me rolling my eyes because even I'm passing that, Gazzy and Angel giving thanks they have no idea what algebra is, and everyone else being happy they don't go to school.

"Jerry, there's nothing really to it. Once you know the answer of the problem, you just work backwards to –" he stops. I start to tell him that everything is easy when you have a perfect five-point-oh GPA.

"HOLY CHRISTMAS NUTS!" he shouts, his voice cracking, attracting the stares of everyone in the high-class restaurant. "That's it! I got it!" he's shouting like a maniac. Kim pastes a smile on her face and tells him to sit down because people are looking.

He jumps over Jerry and Nudge, who both scream. (I actually think Jerry's scream was higher)

"Milton, wait up!" I shout and run after him. I grab the back of his shirt and yank him back. "What are you doing? What was that all about?" Milton's red hair is standing on end and his eyes look wild. "Calm down, man."

"Jack, Algebra. I think I know how to crack the code."

**Ooooh! I finally accomplished a somewhat cliffy ending!**


	13. Algebra

**Ch 13**

Max's P.O.V

I get us back to the dojo in less time than it would have taken a Boeing 747. Despite the fact we got dolled up for no reason, didn't eat, and got almost arrested and/or killed on the way back, no one can contain their excitement.

We sit in a half-circle around Milton on the dojo floor. It's hard to sit still- we might be about to find out information about the flock's parents and families. Across from me, Kim and Jack are practically bouncing in delight, smiling ear to ear. I had no idea it meant this much to them. Nudge is talking non-stop, and for once, no one stops her. Jerry even seems to be paying attention.

"All right, people, we can crack this code like a simple algebra equation." In my opinion, simple and algebra don't belong in the same sentence, but I bite my tongue. "Now, what I need to do is…"

"Stop explaining, just do it!" Jack shouts impatiently. Kim shushes him and pulls him back down. She has on his suit jacket to keep her bare shoulders warm, and she pulls it tighter around herself, hazel eyes wide.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Fang murmurs as he comes up behind me, dropping his sport coat on my lap. I put it on, realizing for the first time how broad his shoulders are.

"Stop sneaking up on people." I whisper as he sits down between me and Jerry.

"Why don't they have names on them? It says subject 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6." Milton asks, confused.

"To them, we're just subjects. We named ourselves. Well, Gazzy and Angel didn't, they were too young. They're in age order. Why?"

"Which, um, person's file are we decoding first?" It matters so much more than he will ever realize that he said 'person' instead of 'subject.'

"Well, I already know my parents." I say, thinking of Dr. M. in Arizona- her house, her daughter, her clinic, and her cookies. I'm also reminded of Jeb. That sick, twisted bastard.

"Me too." Iggy asks quietly. "They were total jerks." I nod, thinking about the couple we found in Virginia. At first they seemed so accepting, but it turned out they wanted to turn Iggy into a one-man circus. The thought makes my blood boil.

"I'm sorry about that, Iggy" Kim says sympathetically. "That must have been awful." Iggy grunts.

"I don't want to know my parents. They sold us to the scientists. The scumbags." Gazzy says, trying not to let his voice wobble. Angel's round face looks close to tears. I pull her closer to me. Fang pulls us both onto his lap and puts his arms around us. His knuckles have gone white.

"What?! That's horrible! I should track them down and give them a piece of my mind!" Kim announces, standing up and smashing her fist into her hand. "Just wait till I-"

"Ok! Thank you. Thank you, Kim, that's enough." Jack says, pulling her onto his lap in an effort to calm her down.

"That leaves Fang and Nudge." Milton says, clicking and typing on his laptop. That sound is driving me crazy.

"Let Fang go first. I mean, he's older and stuff, and he's Max's second in command, so he should go first, naturally. I don't mind waiting. I can wait, it's no big deal. Besides, I don't even know how I'd handle it if I found out right now, it's all so big and important, and this is enough family for me. It's all so crazy and –"

"Shh, mamacita, I know. It's ok." Jerry tells her, grabbing her flailing hands before she takes someone's eyeball out. Note to self: Have a long, threatening talk with that boy later.

"Fang?" Milton asks.

"Do your thing." Fang says with a terse nod. He grabs my hand, and in about three seconds, you can't even tell whose white knuckles are whose.

"Max, what's your mother's name?" he asks, intent on his screen.

"Dr. Valencia Martinez." I respond. Now I kind of get how he is solving this- since we know the answers on my file, we can use them to decode the rest.

"Age?"

"Forty-two"

"Occupation?"

"Veterinarian" I can't suppress a snort. The irony of that gets me every time. He asks me some more questions, and I answer the ones that I know the answer to. For the ones I don't know, Kim pulls up the website of Mom's vet clinic on her phone, and we find answers from there.

After he's done with the questions, he types some more in his computer. It's getting dark out, but no one wants to get up for long enough to turn on the lights. No one wants to get up at all actually, not even to throw away Nudge's half-finished can of lemonade, which is now sitting on the bench. The light from the laptop screen lights up Milton's face in different colors as he opens and closes different pages.

"Here. Done." He says finally. He's even panting a little. Nerd.

He turns the screen around so we can see it. "It was a really complex military-level code, but I managed to find it out. Fang looks like he's caught between shutting his eyes and ears and grabbing the laptop for himself. So he stays in the middle, frozen, with one hand still interlocked in mine.

"There isn't much on your dad, but your mother sounds like a pretty cool person." Milton says gently. "She graduated at the top of her class in culinary school, and she worked as a chef in a restaurant. She was seventeen when she became pregnant. Her family threw her out." Fang doesn't react, and I press myself closer to his chest. Milton continues talking. "Her name was Caroline Anderson." Everyone's stares are locked on him, waiting for him to say or do anything.

"Was?" Fang says at last. I gulp. _Why does he have to be so pessimistic? That's what he chooses to notice? How about, 'oh cool, a chef?'_

"I'm sorry, Fang. She passed away fourteen years ago," Milton says quietly, hanging his head. Fang screws his eyes shut and doesn't say anything. No one knows what to say to that. How do you react to a mother you never knew you had being dead before you got the chance to meet her?

I start to get up and suggest that we go to bed after a long day.

"One more thing, Fang," Milton says almost hesitantly. "There was-" Everyone holds their breath, waiting for Milton to finish his sentence.

"You have a twin brother, Fang."

**Dun Dun Dun! **


	14. Blowing Off Steam

**Ch 14**

Jack's P.O.V

It's about four thirty in the morning, and I'm about to pace a hole clear through the floor. It's coincidence that both of us have teenage mothers that died the same amount of time ago who both gave birth to twin sons. Right?

This isn't helping. If I keep doing this, I'm going to wake up everyone in my family. I rip a corner off a page in my science textbook and write

**At the dojo, blowing off steam. There's something I need to deal with. Be back around ten in the morning.**

I hesitate before signing,

**Love, JB**

I drop the note on my desk, where my parents are sure to notice it. They won't be surprised, anyway. Once I figured out I'm adopted, I've been spending more time at the dojo and at Kim's house than at home. With my gym bag slung over my back, I sneak out the window and run to the dojo.

The lights are on. There's noise coming from inside.

"Who's in there?" I call out from the door. A fist hitting a punching bag answers.

"What are you doing in here? This place is closed," I warn. More fists hit the punching bag.

"All right, I warned you" I say, and run in, ready to, as Kim would say, knock the grits out of whoever is in there.

Fang is. I watch while he beats the stuffing out of a punching bag.

"How'd you get in?" I demand. Why would anyone want to come here in the middle of the night? Wait, I did that too.

"Picked the lock"

"Why?"

"Blow off some steam."

Is it creepy that he used my exact words?

"You know, I know the password to Milton's laptop." I say. Before I have a chance to say something else, Fang is sitting down expectantly with the laptop open. I type in the password, karatenerd98, and it opens.

"Are you trying to –?"

"Yes."

"Milton mentioned you had a –"

"Think he's -"

"Could be." Whaaaat? What is going on? Finishing sentences. Saying stuff at the same time. Reading minds. What is going on here?

Fang searches the name Caroline Anderson. There's nothing but clicking as he goes back to results from fourteen years ago. The first result from that date is a newspaper article that talks about an enormous crash on a highway in San Francisco.

I skim the words. _Early morning-blah-eighteen-wheeler-blah-blue Camry-blah-pileup-blah-wreckage-blah-two survivors-blah- four people dead- blah- Caroline Anderson-_ I stop and read carefully.

_ Caroline Anderson single mother, the driver of the blue Camry, is one of the people that died in this tragedy. Her car skidded and flipped over as she tried to avoid the eighteen-wheeler. Friends remember her as a hard-working young woman and a caring mother. She left behind fourteen month old twin baby boys. _

Fang clicks on the gallery of pictures that go with the article before I can read further. Most of them are of the pileup of crushed cars on the interstate, but there are a few photos of the victims and their families. The one that's captioned Caroline Anderson looks like a drivers' license photo. She's a very beautiful woman, with the kind of face people tend to remember. She has a content look on her face, and the little bit of makeup she's wearing is simple yet elegant.

I can see how Fang is her son. They both have shiny jet black hair and strong jawlines. But the similarities stop there. Her skin is much lighter than Fang's. Her eyes are brownish-gray, not black. Her face is less angular.

The next picture in the slideshow comes up. It's a picture of Caroline Anderson, holding one twin baby in each arm. Fang is the one on her right. His hair is already too long, and he's already mastered his smirk. The other one is a few shades paler than Fang. His hair is overgrown, too, but it's brown and shaggy instead of black and shiny. His eyes are gray-brown like his mother's. His chubby baby hand is already in a knife hand. _Way to go, little guy. You'll be a karate star yet._ I think to the baby in the picture.

"That's your twin brother." I say softly, looking at the picture of Fang's family. Fang nods, but his eyebrows are knit together in concentration.

Wait a minute. Pale skin. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Karate. Doubts are crashing around me like bricks. I fumble in the pockets of my sweatpants and fish out my Blackberry. Fang is watching me with raised eyebrows, but he doesn't say anything.

The home phone is picked up on the third ring.

"Yes, Jack? Where are you? What's going on? Are you in trouble? Are you hurt?" My adoptive mother's voice bombards me with concerned questions. Someone isn't sleepy at all.

"No. I'm fine. Look, I need to ask you something. Does the name Caroline Anderson sound familiar to you at all?"

"Whaaaat?" Her voice is unnaturally high. That name is familiar, all right. I have a sneaking suspicion as to why, but I refuse to say anything without proof.

"Ok, I need you to do me a favor." I say, keeping my voice as steady as I can.

"What is it, Jackie?"

"Do we have baby pictures of me?" I ask, holding my breath.

"Yes, of course we do, why do you ask?" she sounds genuinely puzzled.

"Ok, you have to listen carefully. Find one of those baby pictures. One from when I was about fourteen months old. Take a picture of it on your phone, and then text it to me. Can you do that?"

She mutters something sort of prayer-like. "Yes, I can do that. It'll take a minute."

"That's fine." I say, fighting to keep my voice calm. Fang looks at me with a what-the-hell-are-you-doing face. I turn away. This is a shot in the dark, and I need to know for myself before I tell him anything.

"Goodbye, Mom." I say. That's the first time I've called her mom since I found out I was adopted. I can't see, but I know she's smiling.

"Bye, Jackie." The phone clicks off.

Fang is staring intently, unblinkingly at the picture of Ms. Anderson and her sons. I can't meet his eye, and I definitely cannot look at the picture, so I stare at the ground, instead. A remote part of my brain registers that I forgot my shoes at home.

…..

The phone vibrates and it's all I can do not to jump out of my skin.

I open up the attachment, a picture of me playing with a toy soldier. It's all too familiar. Fair skin. Brown hair. Brown eyes. And knife hands.

I wordlessly hold up the phone screen to the laptop, next to the twin that isn't Fang.

The twin that's me.

Both of us are entirely focused on the screen. Not moving, Not speaking, and not blinking.

There are so many words to say here, but neither of us says any of them. There is no need to. We know what the other one is thinking. We are twin brothers, after all.


	15. What We Think Happened

**Ch 15**

**Dun dun dun… **

Fang's P.O.V

"Fang? Jack? What's going on here?" Max asks from the doorway. She's wearing shorts with one of my shirts, the sleeves come down to her elbows.

Jack and I snap away from the computer screen to face her. The phone drops from Jack's hand and falls to the ground. It's that time of the night where everything is darkest and stillest, right before the sun rises.

I can't speak; still getting over the shock. I have a twin brother. Jack is my twin brother. The heck?

"It's the middle of the night. What are you two doing here?" Kim adds, coming to stand beside her.

"_Now_ do you see why I call them the lost boys?" Nudge asks from somewhere behind the two. She calls us that? Huh. Fitting.

"Come in." Jack says in a tired voice. Somehow I'm not even faintly surprised when Milton, Jerry, and Iggy come in after the girls, carrying/dragging Angel and Gazzy. Total trots after them. Jack doesn't even notice. THAT'S how serious this is.

"Wass' goin' on, yo?" Jerry mumbles through Angel's hair, which is getting in his face. Nudge seems to think Jerry is a saint or something for carrying Angel's sleeping form.

"Guys, why did you disappear?" Kim asks.

"Again?" Max adds.

"No seriously, what's going on?" Iggy demands, tripping over the power cord of the laptop. "Uninformed Blind Guy over here."

Milton turns on the lights, which just further proves he is a true genius. Gazzy stirs and sleepily raises his head. "How did I get here?" He looks around. "How did you get here?"

"Make yourselves comfortable, you have a LOT of questions to answer." Max says, shoving us 'lost boys' onto the bench. (That nickname is growing on me. It's got a ring to it.)

I turn the laptop towards her. She looks confused until she sees the caption, which reads 'Caroline Anderson and twin baby boys.' I know she recognizes me as a baby. Jack picks his phone off the ground and hands it to her.

"That's me." He says quietly. Kim comes up to look at the pictures over Max's shoulder.

"But-but- if that's you and you're there, and he's there, and he's him, then you're both there, so that OHMYGOD, then you two are both, I mean, you're-" Max says incoherently, pointing randomly at me, the screen, the phone, and Jack.

"Is she right?" Kim asks.

"I actually have no idea what she's saying, so I don't know." Jack laughs.

Jerry comes up and shoves the girls aside. They glare at him, but let him look at the pictures. He does his ridiculously high pitched girly scream/Colombian war cry.

"Is it true?" Milton whispers uncertainly.

"I want breakfast." Gazzy announces to no one in particular. Angel and Nudge are asleep on the mats.

"Guys, what part of UNINFORMED BLIND GUY did you not understand? Someone tell me what is happening! Now!" Iggy shouts above the hubbub.

"This is what we think happened." I start.

"When Caroline Anderson- mean, mom died," Jack starts. He stumbles over the word mom. I'm going to have a hard time adjusting to that. I have never called anyone Mom in my life. (Except to tease Max, but I highly doubt that counts)

"They put both of us up for adoption." I continue, giving him a moment to get it together.

"Mr. and Mrs. Brewer took me in" Jack continues, closing his eyes.

"And someone from The School must have pretended to be a parent in order to 'adopt' me." I only realize it when I say it. I can just picture that in my head. 'Oh, don't worry, we'll take good care of this little guy' Not.

"So I ended up in Seaford, and he ended up with wings."

"Holy Christmas Nuts." Milton says softly.

"And this detective work couldn't wait until morning because…?" Max trails off, waiting for an answer.

"No answers no sleep." I shrug. Simple as that.

"And you couldn't tell anyone where you were going because….?" Kim sounds like Max with a southern accent.

"Umm, we, uh." Jack offers lamely. Someone needs to learn how to make excuses.

"Assumed you'd get away with it? Thought no one would notice? Believed we wouldn't worry?" Kim yells, stepping closer to Jack.

"Well, you're wrong, you Jackass." She finishes loudly, her face red.

"Kim, three things. First, stop yelling, they're asleep. Second, language. And last, I really wish there was an insult with the word 'Fang' in it."

"You can call me 'Fangtastic' any time, Max" I tell her, grinning. She slaps me in the face. The unexpected impact makes my head snap around.

"What was that for?" I ask. It isn't like Max to be this uptight, usually when I make my bad jokes she just rolls her eyes.

"Existing." She huffs. Then she quickly grabs my shoulders and kisses me on the cheek.

Whoa.

Did that just happen? Jack is giving me a thumbs up. Yep, it happened.

I'm turning bright red to the point I bet even Iggy can see it.

"That was for existing." Max whispers to the top of my head, still not letting go of my shoulders.

"Hey, I exist, too." Jack pleads, tugging Kim's shirtsleeve. Kim smiles at him and messes up his hair. (It's a good thing he likes her so much. You do not mess with a guy's hair. Ever.)

"Why should I?" Kim says sounding bored. She examines her fingernails as if they're the most interesting things ever. Cruelty, thy name is woman. Put my poor brother out of his misery, already.

That kind of makes it sink in. This is what it means to have family. Their triumphs and tragedies are your triumphs and tragedies. Cut one and the other bleeds. Every time anything good or bad happens to Jack, it'll technically happen to both of us. Because we're family.

And I feel super sorry for anyone who pisses one of us off, because of one of us mad is scary, imagine two.

Actually, scratch that. Imagine three. Because just by looking at the way Max is looking at me, her soft brown eyes locked on mine, I can tell what she'll be there for me, always, just like family. Like the family I want to have with her someday, when we're old enough.

Kim quickly pecks Jack's forehead, and both of them turn identical colors of crimson. Her eyes open wide, as if she can't believe she did that. With a little gasp, she turns to run away, but Jack grabs her wrist and pulls her back.

"So we're twins, huh?" I find myself saying.

"Yep." Jack says, popping the 'p'.

"Reality needs background music." Kim comments after a long silence.

"Music? I got this." Jerry says, plugging in his iPod and popping his collar.

"THAT'S MY JAM!" Kim shouts and begins um, moving. If you closed one eye, stood on your head, did a scissor kick and then closed the other eye, I guess you could call it dancing.

On second thought, maybe not.

Jack glances back at Max and me, shrugs apologetically, and joins her in rocking out/freaking out. Max yanks me to my feet and controls my arms in an effort to make me dance. Jerry turns up the music as we attempt to dance until the sun comes up.


	16. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The old folks are in the kitchen. That's pretty normal, right? What if I told you the old folks' names?

Jack, Kim, Fang, Max, Iggy, Ella, Jerry, Nudge, Milton, Julie, Gazzy, and Angel.

Jack, Kim, Fang, Max, Iggy, and Jerry are sixty years old now. Their kids are in the living room playing poker, and their kids' kids are in the yard playing hide and seek.

The kitchen table is covered with old pictures and food stains, from the enormous New Years' Eve dinner that Iggy, Ella, Milton, and Kim had put together. No one can or should eat another bite, but there are still scoops of homemade ice cream in matching blue bowls in front of everyone.

"Remember that?" Kim laughs, picking up a picture of Jack teaching Fang how to skateboard. "Remember how you stayed in that park too late and they locked you in?" she passes the picture to her husband.

"Was I ever that young?" he says nostalgically, looking at his wrinkled hands. He tosses the picture to his twin brother. "Were we ever that stupid?"

"Considering that you put a stink bomb in Total's doghouse, the answer is you still are." Angel says, pretending to be angry.

"It wasn't me! It was Gazzy!" Jack protests. "I was in here, playing x-box! Tell 'er, Jerry!"

"He was with me. You've lost your touch, yo," Jerry tells his best friend.

"You have too. I beat you last time," Nudge reminds him. It's become an obsession between her, Max, and Kim to play video games when they get home from work.

"I let you win, mamacita," Jerry protests half-heartedly. He knows Nudge will demand a rematch. She huffs and turns away from him, flipping her graying hair over her shoulder.

"It's almost midnight, think the kids should go to bed?" Max asks worriedly.

"Max, our kids are grownups now. They can stay up as late as they want," Fang reminds her gently.

"I know that, I just say kids. It's still hard to say grandkids, it makes me feel so old and ugly," Max explains.

"You are old and ugly." Iggy says, ever helpful.

"Shut up, Ig, no one wants your opinion." Fang says, waving his ice cream spoon around dangerously.

"That's what she said." Iggy snorts.

"Oh, Grow up!" Kim and Max shout at the same time. "You're too old to make those kinds of jokes."

"Hey, growing up is optional." Iggy protests, holding his hands up.

"I know you can't see so let me help you out. You have gray hair, wrinkles, and an old-man-tummy. Give up, Ig. It's time to move on." Gazzy informs his best friend. "Kiss your youth goodbye, it's gone."

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Kim says, staring off into space.

"Like yesterday we were sixteen and crazy." Max adds.

"And now we're sixty and wise?" Fang nods, understanding.

"Hello, stink bomb?" Angel interrupts.

"It wasn't me!" Jack and Fang say together. "It was him!" they point at each other and almost take out each other's eyes.

"Guilty as charged." Angel smiles slyly.

"Never mind that, more ice cream?" Kim asks, getting up. "There's plenty left." A resounding 'no' comes from all around the table.

"It's delicious, really, but I have to watch my sugar." Milton explains.

"Remember when we could have ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it was okay?" Jerry grins, reminiscing. "That was swag, yo"

"Stop all this remember-when-ing. It just reminds me that I'm old and wrinkled and slow and going gray and I'm not getting any younger.

"Mamacita, you're still beautiful. So what if you look a little older? We all do." Jerry reassures her, pointing at his own bald spot.

"Yeah, Nudge, nothing to worry about. We all have senior moments." Milton says kindly. "Just yesterday, Julie went to the grocery store and couldn't remember a thing she came for."

"We're getting older, Nudge. No way around it." Kim sighs regretfully.

"Hey, not all of us!" Fang protests. "I like to think I still look like I did forty years ago."

"Sure you do, Fang, sure you do." Max rolls her eyes.

"Pssh, yeah right. Your hair is all falling out." Jack teases.

"No it's not! And at least it isn't gray, like some people I could mention" Fang retaliates. "ahemahemahemJACKahemahem"

"Oh, yeah right, My hair is still as awesome as it ever was." Jack scoffs.

"So, basically, second place after mine."

"Oh, please, you've always been jealous of my awesome hair."

"I don't get jealous of things that are beneath me."

"First one to the end of the street wins!"

"No fair, you have wings!"

"Fine, we'll ask. Nudge, whose hair looks better?"

"Let's see." Nudge says, pretending to consider the question carefully. "I actually think mine does."

"Stop arguing or no food for you tomorrow!" Kim snaps, laying down the ultimatum.

Jack and Fang cross their arms over their chests and 'hmph.' Even after all these years, it's the only thing that will actually shut them up.

"Anyone else getting a strange sense of déjà vu?" Max asks.

"Yeah, guys, you can't have this argument every time you see each other. And you're both right, anyway. Fang, your hair IS getting thinner, and Jack, you DO have gray hair. Now get over it, and grow up!" Kim snaps.

They pout at her, but it's long since lost its effect.

"Why do I get the feeling they're not going to listen?" Max groans.

"Because you're not stupid." Kim sighs.

They go back and forth for a long time, arguing like children and winding up eating the remainder of the ice cream despite the fact that they shouldn't. They almost have a food fight. They tell and retell and comment on the stories for every picture on the table and pass them around. They make plans for their grandkids' graduations and weddings and they speculate about great-grandkids. They still get a kick out of staying up until midnight on New Years' Eve.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!" They count down together, banging their fists on the table as they stare at the clock.

"Goodbye, old year!" Fang shouts.

"And welcome, new!"

**Ok, so cheesy ending, but my first multi-chapter fic is up and done! Whoo!**


End file.
